Back in the groove

Werder Bremen had a testing encounter with AZ Alkmaar as part of their training camp in Belek, TurkeyTop scorer Claudio Pizarro didn't get among the goals this time, but did provide the assist for oneIt was a red letter day for Sebastian Boenisch, the full back returning to action for Werder after losing close on a year-and-a-half to injuryHertha BSC Berlin fulfilled their duty with a 2-0 friendly win against FC Heidenheim on Tuesday afternoonPatrick Ebert was sporting an interesting new hairdo for the capital clubAdrian Ramos (pictured) and Marco Djuricin got the goals for Michael Skibbe's sideHead coach Lucien Favre had been hoping for somewhat sunnier weather at the Foals' training camp in Belek, TurkeyBorussia defender Dante works on his fitness ahead of Gladbach's first Bundesliga fixture of the New Year against Bayern Munich on 20 JanuaryBayern travelled to India for a friendly match against the national team - Arjen Robben emerges to a fervent crowd... as well as some heavy-duty security guardsPhilipp Lahm hands a special Bayern jersey over to Baichung Bhutia, the Indian football legend for whom the match served as a final farewellThe Indian fans were eager to see Germany's biggest club in action and grappled to get a view of FCB's star ensembleBastian Schweinsteiger (r.) was making his first appearance for the record champs since breaking his collarbone against Napoli in NovemberThe weather in Side, Turkey, was good enough for Werder Bremen to take on Belgian side Anderlecht It wasn't much of a friendly, however, as both sides got stuck in during the early stages of the match, Markus Rosenberg (l.) had opened the scoring in front of roughly 400 fans on Monday afternoon......but goals from Oleksandr Yakovenko and Dennis Praet made Bremen pay for a Having completed a successful winter training camp in Doha, Qatar, FC Bayern were well received as they arrived in Delhi, IndiaFranck Ribery couldn't even make it out of the airport before being swamped by fans who will There were some tired eyes amongst the Bayern players as they made their way to the team's luxurious hotel on Monday evening......but Mario Gomez and Co. will undoubtedly be looking forward to completing their mini-tour of the VfB Stuttgart took on Belgian side Beerschot AC in their first friendly of the winter break and wore black armbands after observing Julian Schieber (m.) started up front alongside Cacau in the first half as Bruno Labbadia experimented with his side in the 2-0 winSerbian international Zdravko Kuzmanovic opened the scoring on 22 minutes after a strong start in Belek, TurkeyTop goalscorer Martin Harnik, who signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2016 just last week, made it two after the half hour FC Bayern kept up their winning streak on foreign soil by picking up their third victory of the winter break Jupp Heynckes took the opportunity to give some of his fringe players a chance to impress in a match ...as Takashi Usami (l.) scored all five goals for Bayern to cap off a mightily impressive performance. ...who was all smiles on the sidelines as he joked around with an unsuspecting Usami!Meanwhile Schalke were enjoying a brief respite from training in the searing heat as they took a break at their training camp in Doha, QatarWith temperatures well above what most of these players are used to, they couldn't resist having a splash around when they found a paddling pool......and sure enough the fun and games ended with Christian Fuchs (m.) enjoying a nice cooling off session when he fell into the waterA jog around the training complex was undoubtedly enough to warm them upJefferson Farfan is slowly but surely making his way back from injury, though the Peruvian still looks to be experiencing some discomfortMeanwhile at the Bayern camp Arjen Robben looked like he could have done with a session in the paddling pool of his own......and the temperature wasn't the only thing making things heated in trainingBrazilian defender Breno (top) didn't seem to mind the heat as he helped out goalkeeper Mario Gomez seemed to have recovered from the pain in his toe that saw him come off after just eleven minutes against Egyptian side Al-Ahly FC Bayern took part in the second friendly of their winter training camp in Doha, Qatar The record German titleholders made it two wins out of two in Qatar with a 2-1 victory in front of roughly 8,000 fans in the Al-Rayyan StadiumBastian Schweinsteiger continued to make progress in his fight for full fitness ahead of Ivica Olic made all the difference after Mario Gomez went off in the 11th minute of the match and opened The Egyptian side put in a much-improved performance in the second half and got stuck into their opponents having equalised shortly after the break......however they were left to lick their wounds as Olic netted in the 94th minute to seal the win for FC BayernMuch like in training the rain was unrelenting throughout the 90 minutes. Lucien Favre didn't seem to mind as he surveyed the action ...as his new signing Alexander Ring made an instant impact with his new team by Nuremberg dug in and managed to pull a goal back just before the break when Lucien Favre's men will want to keep their good run of form going into the second half of the season. Other Bundesliga-related results were as follows: When Werder Bremen chose Belek, Turkey as the destination of their winter training camp, chances are they were hoping ...while head coach Thomas Schaaf tried to keep his players warm with several movement based training drillsFootball was on the cards as well when the weather calmed down. Claudio Pizarro (l.) Mehmet Ekici (m.) and his Bremen team-mates were not holding back as they look to prepare Meanwhile, Schalke 04 had no such weather problems to complain of in Doha, Qatar - There was a brief injury scare for the Royal Blues, but for once it didn't involve their players New signing Chinedu Obasi, who was brought in on loan from 1899 Hoffenheim to give the experienced Elsewhere Timo Hildebrand was juggling several balls as he went though his goalkeeping exercisesKlaas-Jan Huntelaar was also working with the dreaded medicine balls - the top goalscorer would undoubtedly have rather been practising in front of goal...instead they got quite the opposite as their first training session of 2012 took place in the pouring rain on a cold, wet and windy dayHowever, it didn't stop Marco Reus and the rest of his Gladbach colleagues from getting the ball at their feet Their commendable work ethic shone through even if the sun didn't show and by the end of the day it was the sweat pouring rather than the rainFC Bayern took part in the first competitive match of their winter training camp in Qatar as they took on The record German title holders romped to a 13-0 victory with Franck Ribery (r.) bagging himself a braceThe leading goalscorer in Germany's top flight, Mario Gomez (r.), proved he hadn't lost his touch in front of goal Elsewhere, Schalke 04 began their own winter training camp in Doha with Jefferson Farfan ...while top scorer Klaas Jan Huntelaar looked to do things his own way during some of the early stretching exercisesThe Royal Blues will be in Qatar until 12 January as they get ready to mount a potential title challenge in the second half of the seasonVfB Stuttgart are one of four teams to travel to Belek, Turkey, as they prepare for the season's restart and seemed to be in good spirits......despite a few heated discussions between team-matesBastian Schweinsteiger (second from l.) proves he is fit and ready to play again at FC Bayern's training camp in Doha......where they have been warmly received by the locals, who are keen for Bayern memorabiliaMeanwhile, FC Schalke 04 fans watch Bayern train as they await the arrival of the Royal Blues, who will also have a training camp in Doha......and they won't have to hang around much longer: Jefferson Farfan (left), Lars Unnerstall and Co. check into the Qatari capitalA little closer to home, SV Werder Bremen's Claudio Pizarro (left) and fellow striker Marko Arnautovic ...and it's not long before coach Thomas Schaaf (left) is handing out instructions to Naldo an Co.Meanwhile, back in Germany, new Hertha boss Michael Skibbe (fourth from left) addresses his players......before putting them through their paces at the club's training complex in Berlin19-year-old striker Heung-Min Son is delighted to be back at Hamburger SV's training ground......where coach Thorsten Fink keeps a watchful eye over proceedings